Ice cream and frozen dessert products are marketed internationally to the many consumers who find these products desirable. Generally, these kind of products are made by commercial processors who employ a process which involves freezing the product while maintaining agitation and aeration in order to avoid the formation of large ice crystals and/or a stratified product during the process. The formation of large ice crystals or a stratified or non-homogeneous product lowers the overall quality of the product by adversely affecting the texture, mouth quality and uniformity of appearance of the frozen dessert. Thus, the normal commercial process of preparing frozen desserts involves mixing, pasteurizing and homogenizing the ingredients to form an emulsion which is then cooled with agitation with concurrent aeration and solidification to form a frozen dessert. The frozen dessert is then held at low temperatures to "harden" the product and to maintain the hard consistency. Failure to maintain the dessert at relatively low temperature, results in the development of large crystals of the sugar lactose and/or of ice, thus degrading the quality of the product.
To the consumer, one disadvantage posed by commercially made frozen desserts is the need to maintain the dessert at relatively low temperatures to avoid the deterioration of quality which results when frozen dessert products are thawed and then re-frozen. Another disadvantage is that commercial frozen dessert products may not be available when the consumer wants them and such products are difficult and expensive to store. It is apparent that it would be highly desirable to be able to make a frozen dessert product having good qualities from a shelf-stable mix by simply whipping conveniently available ingredients in a home mixer and then static freezing the aerated mixture in the freezing compartment of a home refrigerator or home freezer without agitation. It would be even more desirable if such a product could be thawed or melted and then, without aeration, re-frozen to provide a frozen dessert still having the good consistency, texture and overall appearance the product had before melting. This quality of retaining product characteristics during temperature cycling is referred to as freeze/thaw stability. One example of a product exemplifying these characteristics is the products described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 592,208 of Hellyer et al. filed June 30, 1975, for "FROZEN DESSERT PRODUCT AND PROCESS".
In addition to the Hellyer patent application, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,800,036, Mar. 26, 1974 to Gabby et al. and 3,183,098, May 11, 1965 to Bauer are examples of prior art in this field.
It is well known in the art that one of the problems of providing a frozen dessert composition having excellent quality is the cost of the ingredients comprising the frozen dessert mix. One means by which cost can be reduced is to minimize the quantity of ingredients employed to provide a certain volume of frozen dessert product. Thus, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a high volume, low density frozen dessert product having good appearance, body, flavor and eating qualities.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frozen dessert product which has a water content similar to that of commercial ice cream and yet is made by a convenient process which does not involve agitation or aeration during the freezing step.
Further objects of the present invention are to provide a product having freeze/thaw stability, to provide a frozen dessert which can be prepared in the home without employing a heating step or unusual or expensive utensils or equipment or extended whipping time, and to provide a frozen dessert made from mix ingredients which are shelf-stable.
These and still other objects will be apparent from the following description of the present invention. All percentages herein refer to percentage by weight of the total composition unless otherwise specified.